In an earlier thread I offered up a couple of ways that an online poker site could be cheating their players; in this post I’m going to run through my thoughts on cheating in live poker, and how players can protect themselves.
First off, you need to understand that cheating has been a part of poker since the earliest days of the game and it’s not likely to be eradicated anytime in the future. Poker by its nature attracts non-conformists, and a major segment of that group is your scammers, cheats, and shady individuals.
Another interesting aspect of poker is the fact that by and large it’s a self-policing game, where players are required to protect themselves –yes there are dealers, floor personnel, security and other authority figures around, but there main goal IS NOT to protect you from being cheated. It’s up to each individual player to protect themselves, and unfortunately some of these lessons have to be learned the hard way.
Basically if you’re expecting the other players to offer up anything more than “don’t muck your hand until he pushes you the pot” after falling victim to an angle-shot, you are sorely mistaken. This is your responsibility, and unfortunately there are plenty of players who are looking to take advantage of a new player, be it through shooting angles or outright cheating.
So what can you do to protect yourself?
#1 – Learn the rules of the cardroom, and understand WHY they are in place. All of those stupid rules are there for a reason. Because enough peopled have figured out how to get around the original rules that they have needed to be tweaked over the years.
#2 – Don’t be accommodating. If someone asks to sit behind you (or behind the person next to you) or sweat your hand, or whatever, just say no. Whenever you enter a cardroom you should be on high alert and leave your trust at the door. If there is someone you don’t know who has the potential to see your cards don’t chalk it up to a coincidence.
#3 – Don’t rely on the dealer or the floor to uncover cheaters, and don’t expect your accusation to carry much weight unless the cheaters in question have a track record in the poker room. If you feel you have been cheated (through collusion or even something as mundane as two or three friends soft-playing one another) even if the floor says all is well, just leave the game and find another table. The casino staff isn’t looking to cause a scene and is often going to turn a blind eye to anything that is not conclusively cheating.
#4 – Like anything else always be on full alert and watch for abnormal behavior. If something just doesn’t feel right there is no reason to take the chance that it isn’t.
#5 – SPEAK UP! If peopled are violating the rules, even if there is no malice behind their actions like two friends soft-playing at the end of a hand, say something. Even if nothing is done about it, the fact that you spoke-up should deter an angle-shooter from a second attempt –people don’t liked being called out—and will let the friends know that what they are doing is unethical.
In my experience the biggest problems in live poker are soft collusion and angle-shooters, but you should also keep an eye out for collusion teams (which if they are really good at their craft will be very hard to detect). The first two problems, soft collusion and angle-shooters can be wholly controlled by your actions and how you conduct yourself at the table.